The present invention relates to a balanced adjustable support or table, in particular a working table of which the plane of the support surface for an object or piece to be machined can be altered with great precision while maintaining the equilibrium of the table irrespective of the load.
Working tables can generally be displaced in two planes by conventional mechanical means such as screws and guide rods. A wedge can be inserted between the table and the piece to be machined which enables the piece to be inclined. The large number of selective mountings required renders the use of universal machines expensive.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,686,095 in the name of Carlson discloses a table for working construction stones, comprising a fixed base, a plate rotatable about the base and being fixed in a predetermined angular position, and a universal joint disposed between the plate and the table which is connected with the plate by four telescopic legs by means of hook and ring assemblies. A change of inclination is achieved by means of capstans and cables.
Although such a device can give acceptable results for the machining of stone which requires a precision rarely exceeding one centimeter, it is a different story for a machine requiring a precision in the order of one micron.